Demurrer CLMCal. Super. - 2nd Dist.August 26, 2020123 23561 378401583 562400020067960 113454 21905 89 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, MINUTE ORDER TIME: 08:20:00 AM JUDICIAL OFFICER PRESIDING: Mark Borrell COUNTY OF VENTURA VENTURA DATE: 11/06/2020 DEPT: 40 CLERK: Penny Wooff REPORTER/ERM: None CASE NO: 56-2020-00544758-CU-PO-VTA CASE TITLE: Wilber vs. Manzer CASE CATEGORY: Civil - Unlimited CASE TYPE: PI/PD/WD - Other EVENT TYPE: Motion - Other (CLM) to and Amendments of Original Complaint MOVING PARTY: Ron Wilber CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Motion - Other To and Amendment of Original Complaint; New Declaration of Ron Wilbur and Resubmission of Previously Filed Declaration as Statement of Fact; Resubmission of Original Complaint Followed by New Statement of Causes of Action Followed by Memo of Law; etc, 10/27/2020 EVENT TYPE: Demurrer (CLM) to Complaint MOVING PARTY: Dan Manzer as Trustee of the Manzer Family Trust, Barbara Manzer, Dan Manzer CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Demurrer to Complaint; Memo of Points & Authorities in Support; Declaration of Harry A Safarian Regarding Meet & Confer Compliance, 10/08/2020 STOLO APPEARANCES STOLO Ron Wilber, self represented Plaintiff, present. Harry Safarian, counsel for Defendant(s), present telephonically. Stolo At 8:50 a.m., court convenes in this matter with all parties present as previously indicated. Counsel have received and read the court's written tentative ruling. Defense counsel submits on the tentative ruling. Matter submitted to the Court with argument. The Court finds/orders: The Court's tentative is adopted as the Court's ruling. Defendants demur to the complaint of plaintiff, Ron Wilber. In response, plaintiff has filed an objection to the demurrer. The court treats the objection as an opposition. A demurrer tests only the legal sufficiency of the complaint. (Berg & Berg Enterprises, LLC v. Boyle (2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 1020, 1034.) "A demurrer tests the pleading alone; a court cannot sustain a demurrer on the basis of extrinsic matter not appearing on the face of the pleading except for matters subject to judicial notice." (Jamulians Against the Casino v. Iwasaki (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 632.) Plaintiff's objection (opposition) to the demurrer is not addressed to the sufficiency of the allegations VEN-FNR-10.03 MINUTE ORDER DATE: 11/06/2020 Page 1 DEPT: 40 CASE TITLE: Wilber vs. Manzer CASE NO: 56-2020-00544758-CU-PO-VTA pleaded. Rather, plaintiff takes issue with the sufficiency of the meet and confer process. Whatever the merits of plaintiff's concerns, they are not a ground for overruling the demurrer. (See Dumas v. Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (2020) 45 Cal.App.5th 348.) The demurrer is based on uncertainty of the allegations of the complaint. Demurrers for uncertainty are strictly construed because ambiguities can reasonably be clarified under modern rules of discovery. (Khoury v. Maly's of California, Inc. (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 612, 616; Lickiss v. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 1125, 1135.) "A special demurrer should not be sustained when the allegations of the complaint are sufficiently clear to apprise the defendant of the issues which he is to meet." (Bacon v. Wahrhaftig (1950) 97 Cal.App.2d 599, 605.) Thus, a demurrer for uncertain should only be sustained if the pleading is so incomprehensible that a defendant cannot reasonably respond. (A.J. Fistes Corp. v. GDL Best Contractors, Inc. (2019) 38 Cal.App.5th 677, 695; accord Mahan v. Charles W. Chan Ins. Agency, Inc. (2017) 14 Cal.App.5th 841, 848, fn. 3, and Lickiss v. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, supra, 208 Cal.App.4th 1125, 1135.) Here, the sparse facts alleged are insufficient to place defendants on notice of what conduct or omissions form the basis for the cause of action or what legal theory of liability is asserted. Therefore, the demurrer is sustained with leave to file an amended complaint by November 20, 2020. Plaintiff has filed what he has styled a motion for leave to file an amendment to the original complaint, among other things. That motion was not properly noticed. However, the court views it as moot, inasmuch as the court has granted to leave to amend in connection with defendant's demurrer. Therefore, the court orders plaintiff's motion off calendar. Parties waive notice. STOLO VEN-FNR-10.03 MINUTE ORDER DATE: 11/06/2020 Page 2 DEPT: 40
